Late 1980s: Stylistic origins performing at
Bush Hall in 2008. They are considered to be one of the earliest slowcore bands. The sound that would become known as "slowcore" began emerging in the United States in the late 1980s and early 1990s as a counterpoint to the rapid growth of louder rock genres, especially
grunge. Grunge fused elements of
punk rock and
heavy metal to create a scene which
Bruce Pavitt, co-founder of the record label
Sub Pop, described as "gritty vocals, roaring
Marshall amps, ultra-loose
grunge that destroyed the morals of a generation". though unlike grunge, the early years of slowcore did not have a defined
scene or any geographic hotspots.
American Music Club, hailing from
San Francisco, California, are considered an early slowcore band. Releasing their debut album
The Restless Stranger in 1985, the band's music was slow and with characteristics akin to genres like folk and
singer-songwriter. This style was echoed by other bands at the time, such as the Canadian
Cowboy Junkies, who were creating minimalist
country and
blues, and would come to define aspects of slowcore. and
Spacemen 3 they began releasing
dream pop albums. Their sophomore album,
On Fire (1989), strongly influenced the genre, as did the rest of their discography, although their dream pop style was not entirely indicative of how slowcore would develop.
Red House Painters, Throughout this period, the amount of bands and albums associated with the genre grew greatly, establishing its fundamental sound and style. Codeine's music received attention over the following years, and after the release of the
Barely Real extended play in 1992, the
Toronto Star described them as having a "unique 'slowcore' sound". By
The White Birch, their 1994 sophomore and ultimate album, Codeine had cemented themselves as a prominent band within the scene. The album is bleak in both lyrics and composition;
Down Colorful Hill, alongside their following albums
Rollercoaster (1993) and
Bridge (1993), have been described as instilling feelings of "desperation, regret, and general darkness". Earles contended that Red House Painters was the saddest band within slowcore in the early 1990s. Another early band was
Bedhead, which formed in 1991 and released
WhatFunLifeWas, their debut album, in 1994. This album consisted of soft vocals and dynamic instrumentation, A year after Bedhead's formation,
Idaho, another prominent band in these preliminary years, formed, and started to release music in 1993 after signing with
Caroline Records. Like Bedhead, they released slowcore albums throughout the decadetheir debut being
Year After Year (1993); however, Idaho persisted into the next century.
1994–1999: Refinement of an archetypical sound , pictured in 2013, are heralded as pioneers of slowcore with their early releases. The mid-1990s were an experimental period in music throughout North America and Europe, with new
microgenres rapidly appearing in indie music. Other bands, such as the Velvet Underground-influenced (similar to Galaxie 500) acts
Acetone and
the American Analog Set, and the comparatively darker bands
Slint and
Swans, were producing slow songs that could be categorized as slowcore but could also be deemed
post-rock. This resulted in critics finding slowcore to be unclearly defined.
Low, hailing from
Duluth, Minnesota, would ultimately create the genre's archetypical sound. This album was different from its predecessors: while it maintained stylistic similarities with other bands' sparse instrumentation, it was more difficult to categorise into the other associated genres, like dream pop or shoegaze. Due to this unique sound, Low are heralded as pioneers of the genre; Low would continue to release slowcore albums throughout the rest of the decade and the early 2000s, after which they transitioned towards other genres. Among them was
Ida, composed of
Elizabeth Mitchell and Daniel Littleton, who released their debut album,
Tales of Brave Ida in 1994. This was followed by
I Know About You in 1996, which Rubsam considered a slowcore "classic".
Bluetile Lounge, an Australian band, released their debut album (
Lowercase) a year after Ida's debut, in 1995.
The For Carnation released their debut EP,
Fight Songs the same year. Two years later,
Radar Bros.'s self-titled debut album was released. These latter four bands were mentioned by Stevie Chick as examples of the way slowcore evolved after Low in an article for
The Guardian. She writes, in respect of the first three: "the genre grew to encompass the blue lullabies of Spain; the hypnotic intimacy of the For Carnation [...]; [and] the whispered confessions of early Cat Power". Singer-songwriters like the American singer
Lisa Germano and the Swedish singer
Stina Nordenstam By this point, the band had already released a few EPs but had failed to garner a notable reputation. The album was reviewed by
Pitchfork and other zines, and the band would release one final album,
Contemporary Movement (2000), before disbanding until 2018. Despite this, Duster's initial
cult following and later resurgence would ultimately make them one of the most influential bands within slowcore.
2000s–2010s: Proliferation Through the success of several bands in the mid-to-late 1990s, the slowcore sound had been conceptually established by the commencement of the 2000s. Through this, the genre continued to grow with releases from both existing and new artists. This era also saw bands experiment by amalgamating the slowcore sound with other genres. releasing
Ghost Tropic (2000), ''
Didn't It Rain (2002), and The Magnolia Electric Co.'' (2003). Alongside these, new bands began venturing into the genre.
Carissa's Wierd, having formed in 1995, did not release anything until the turn of the century, when they put out
Ugly But Honest: 1996-1999 (2000), followed a year later by
You Should Be at Home Here (2001). These albums were then succeeded in 2002 by
Songs About Leaving, the band's final album. While albums archetypical of the mid-to-late-1990s slowcore sound were still being released during the 2000ssuch as those by Carissa's Wierd and Lowsome bands were experimenting with introducing slowcore elements to other genres. For example, in 2002, several Red House Painters members formed
Sun Kil Moon. Early on, pundits noted that this band departed from the slowcore sound present in Red House Painters releases to instead opt for folk-inspired song construction. Despite this, others continued to find similarities between Sun Kil Moon's music and slowcore: a 2009 article in
The Sunday Times listed
April (2008) as an essential slowcore record. Like Sun Kil Moon,
Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions comprised members of other bands.
Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Star and
Colm Ó Cíosóig of the shoegaze pioneering
My Bloody Valentine formed this duo in 2001, and shortly after, released
Bavarian Fruit Bread (2001). The album was reminiscent of dream pop, given the members' past work with other bands, but was still recognisable as slowcore. This dream pop sound was revisited by
Cigarettes After Sex in 2012, with their single "Nothing's Gonna Hurt You Baby". The song would go relatively unnoticed until it went viral several years later, following which the band released their
self-titled debut album in 2017, described by
Pitchfork as a "slowcore collection [that] borders on ambient".
2020s: Resurgence Slowcore increased in popularity in the early 2020s, Songs like Duster's "Constellations" (from
Stratosphere) have been used to soundtrack viral videos to heighten emotion. Similarly, televisions programs used slowcore to similar effect; the
Netflix drama series
13 Reasons Why featured Codeine's cover of
Joy Division's "
Atmosphere".
Ethel Cain,
Daughter, and
Liam McCay. ==Notes and citations==